Drilling down on: at Montreal 2, Portland Timbers 0

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Man of the Match:Saturday’s first match of the MLS weekend was light on big performances, but Impact center back Shavar Thomas stepped forcefully into critical challenges and generally helped reduce Timbers striker Kris Boyd’s impact. His work was critical early in a game that was scoreless through 75 minutes.

Packaged for take-away:

For Major League Soccer’s preservation, there can’t be many of these. The first match of nine on Saturday was, in official parlance, a “stinker.” You get these every now and then, even in leagues more mature than MLS. A lot of things come together to make one dip into the “gotta get some coffee zone.”

First, that field is atrocious. It’s a bad artificial turf laid over a concrete floor. (Very old school that way.) So the players have trouble corralling passes, which makes for a disheveled match. Portland Timbers coach John Spencer called the turf “horrendous.”

Second, there’s not a lot of creativity between either team. In fact, there’s not a whole lot of good going on with either team right now. Expansion Montreal will remain a work in progress for some time, and Portland just isn’t much to shout about on the road. Never has been.

Throw in a couple of replacement fullbacks (who are less inclined to scoot forward) and a couple of others manning less familiar roles (something else that encourages a conservative pose) and you get a match like this.

Either way, Montreal will be happy with its second win of 2012 and its first clean sheet.

The game did open up, at least, over the last 15 minutes.

And yet even then, the sides combined for just five corner kicks, a pretty good indication of this one.

Cecilio Dominguez and Mateus Uribe each bagged a brace, and Renato Ibarra also scored as the tournament’s top team sauntered into and out of Costa Rica on Wednesday. Club America has been to seven CCL finals, and one every single one.

West Ham United will pay a visit to Dag & Red as part of the latter’s #SaveTheDaggers campaign, and the March 21 date will cost fans between $7 and $21 to see a top flight side at 6,000-seat Victoria Road.

“So please come on down to the Chigwell Construction Stadium for an additional night of football. Bring a friend, or two, or more and we can use the gate takings to help get us back on track,” reads a press release.

Dag & Red was founded in 1992 and climbed as high as League One in 2011, and plays just 2.5 miles from West Ham United’s training ground. Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle are among Dag & Red alums in the Premier League.

It’s a terrific gesture from West Ham, and is even more impressive in the United States where the growing club game is increasingly cutthroat (especially between non-synced leagues).

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AS Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco absolutely roasted his charges after i Lupi tossed aside a Cenzig Under-inspired lead to fall 2-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday.

Di Francesco had praise for Edin Dzeko, who assisted Under’s goal, as well as goalkeeper Alisson, but was mostly enraged by his side.

4) “The difference was that in the first half we tried to hurt them while in the second we were looking to hold on – to what? I don’t know.”

— “To what? I don’t know” is hilarious. Di Francesco’s side has posted some serious wins this season, including killing off Chelsea 3-0 at home and coming back from 2-0 to draw the Blues at Stamford Bridge. He doesn’t preach sitting back.

3) “There were far too many schoolboy errors – even by players with a wealth of international experience.”

— Schoolboy errors!

2) “I saw two completely different teams out there today. There were lots of players I should have taken off after we conceded the first goal.”

— Again, one mistake by a number of players on Facundo Ferreyra is enough for Di Francesco. He’s not just happy to be here.

1) “I can’t imagine we’d get arrogant just because we’re winning an important game. It’s not as if Roma are used to reaching the final every year.”

— When you’re willing to essentially rip an entire club’s history — Roma’s been to just two UCL quarterfinals since losing the final to Liverpool in 1984 — you’re putting your footprints in new cement.

Salzburg’s two away goals in a draw feels like a one-goal lead, and the one-goal matches are especially interesting. In the case of Atalanta, 1-0 to the Serie A side could undo Michy Batshuayi‘s first leg heroics for BVB.